The Abduction of Persephone Picture

Persephone:Daughter of Zeus and Demetra, the goddess of agriculture. She was pretty and blondhaired and was often playing with the Oceanides in a beautiful, flowerish and green, full-of-gargle-waters springs valley in Sicily. One day, while Persephone was running in the chloe, she saw a big, weird yet smelly flower; a narcissus. Amused by its colours and beauty she approached it, kneeled and smelled its wonderful fragrance. This made her lay on the grass full of pleasure. At this time, Plouton (Hades) jumped up suddenly through the ground, grasped her, put her on his chariot and lead her to the Underworld. Her mother searched for her all over the place; but with no success. For nine days she was wandering upon the earth carrying two torches. She drank neither ambrosia, nor nectar, nor water touched her body. Bursting into tears with no consolation, as she was, Ekati reached her and told her that someone, whom she hasn't seen, had taken her daughter. So, they decided to go to god Helios, he who Lights up the world and sees everything, to ask what has happened. He gave them the real answer adding that Zeus also agreed to that.Angry against him, Demetra abandoned the community of gods on mount Olympus and came down to the people, wandering among them in the villages and the cities. She left herself without care for long time and wearing those black clothes no man could discern who she was. She ignored agriculture. She ignored plant life. She ignored the fertility of the land. Everything was deserted. And the Earth was facing a long winter; A total winter !

Zeus saw that this condition couldn't go on for more and ordered Hermes to go find Hades in the Underworld and make him bring Persephone back to the Earth; back to her mother. Hades freely accepted and let her climb up, back to the surface. But he was tricky. Right before he let her climb up, he secretly put to her mouth a seed of pomgranate and forced her to eat it. This way she was obliged forevermore to spend four months with him down to the underworld and to return up to her mother every spring and stay with her for eight months.

A sculpture in stone found at a yard in my neighbourhood,Athens, Hellas